Amazon to Open Two Fulfillment Centers in Edwardsville, Illinois, and
Create 1,000 Full-Time Jobs

June 02, 2016 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)today announced plans to open two
fulfillment centers in Edwardsville, Illinois, and create more than
1,000 full-time jobs between the facilities when they open. The company
also recently announced plans for a new fulfillment center in Joliet,
Illinois, and the creation of 2,000 full-time jobs. Amazon has an
existing fulfillment center in Joliet where it currently employs 1,500
full-time employees.

“Illinois has been a great place to do business for Amazon and we look
forward to adding two additional fulfillment centers and creating
another 1,000 full-time jobs with benefits on day one in the state,”
said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North American
operations. “The elected officials throughout the city and state have
been very supportive of Amazon and we thank them for helping make this
possible. We’re excited to soon call Edwardsville home and become an
active member of this vibrant community.”

“Amazon’s newest investment in Illinois is a commitment to the future of
our state,” Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said. “Amazon brings more
than a thousand great paying jobs to Madison County and strengthens
Illinois’ position as a national hub for distribution and logistics. We
are excited Amazon has again chosen our state and continues to be a
growing partner in economic development in the Land of Lincoln. This
growth represents the type of results possible when state economic
development is focused on a long-term strategy, as the newly formed
ILBEDC is doing with the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity.”

Both fulfillment centers will span more than 700,000 square-feet each
where employees will pick, pack and ship items for customers. One of the
buildings will specialize in handling larger items like big-screen
televisions, sports equipment or kayaks and the other building will
handle smaller items such as books, toys and electronics.

Full-time employees at Amazon receive competitive hourly wages and a
comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, 401(k) and company
stock awards starting on day one, as well as generous maternity and
parental leave benefits.

Amazon also offers employees innovative programs like Career Choice,
where it will pre-pay 95 percent of tuition for courses related to
in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a
career at Amazon. Since the program’s launch, employees are pursuing
degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT
programming and radiology, to name a few.

Mayor Hal Patton of Edwardsville stated, “We would like to thank Amazon
for selecting Edwardsville as the location for their newest fulfillment
centers. The construction of these two enormous warehouse buildings in
the Gateway and Lakeview Commerce Centers will employ hundreds of
construction professionals and bring over 1,000 full-time jobs to our
region. The professional staffs from the City of Edwardsville, Madison
County and the State of Illinois worked seamlessly with our local
developers to deliver a much needed employment opportunity for our
talented workforce. We are excited to show Amazon the quality of life
that makes Edwardsville a great place to live, work and play.”

Madison County Board Chairman Alan J. Dunstan applauded the news from
Amazon. He said Madison County’s premiere location and transportation
network was key to attracting one of the world's largest e-commerce
retailers. “We are excited that Amazon is coming to Madison County. We
look forward to them becoming part of our community and we welcome the
job opportunities for our residents.”

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is
guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor
focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and
long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized
recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct
Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are
some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more
information, visit www.amazon.com/about.